


Déjà Vu

by AlexFromAwen



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Catradora makes me swoon, Deja Vu, F/F, Girls Kissing, I was so happy, Magic, Marriage Proposal, Minor Angst, Romantic Fluff, Scorfuma only mentioned, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24352492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexFromAwen/pseuds/AlexFromAwen
Summary: Set a few years after the end of the series, Adora wakes up and goes about her day when events come about that give her some flashbacks. Mostly intended to be fluff, but with some minor touching on topics like anxiety, angst and the possible ways magic may interact with time.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 147





	Déjà Vu

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on this site, so thank you for reading it! Oh, also I hope I chose the right rating! If people think this should be under mature from the bit in the beginning, please let me know and I'll change it.

Adora’s eyes cracked open, the sun reaching the point in the sky where it came through her bedroom window and fell across the bed’s pillows. Letting out a groan of annoyance, she mentally kicked herself for forgetting to draw the curtains. Shifting where she lay to try and move out of the immediate rays of the sun produced a sleepy grumble beside her and a dark clawed hand to move across her, intent on keeping her where she lay. Glancing at her shoulder, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the head, covered in grey-brown hair, nuzzling into her deeper. Catra hadn’t even woken up, she just instinctively sensed Adora’s movement and sleep-retaliated.

It was a vision she was used to by now. They’d been sharing a bed for nearly 5 years now, and yet whomever said ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ didn’t cuddle enough catgirls. It even helped her forget the brightness flooding her eyes. Kinda. Sorta. Not really, but in hindsight, sun in the eyes wasn’t such a big deal compared to cute girlfriend cuddles.

Without even willing it to, Adora’s hand moved up so she could run her thumb along Catra’s jaw line, the impossibly soft layer of fur on it smooth to her touch. The move produced an involuntary purr from her girlfriend, and her ears perked up some, until one yellow eye cracked open, looking up into Adora’s smiling face. The eye didn’t stay open for more than a moment, replaced with a smile that nearly took Adora’s breath away, and a full body stretch that ran from the top of Catra’s head down to the tip of her tail as she re-positioned to better drape over the blonde’s body. “Hey, Adora,” she finally said, sleepily.

“Morning,” she replied, softly, as if speaking too loud would really start the day and she had to savour these moments together. It never ceased to amuse her that, even after knowing each other their whole lives, Catra’s first words, every morning, or when they’ve been apart for some time, were the same. She brought it up once and Catra had said she just liked the feel of the name rolling over her tongue, which Adora wasn’t about to stop, not when it still produced those butterflies in her stomach. “We should probably be getting up.”

“Can’t get up. Cuddling,” came the reply, slightly muffled against Adora’s collarbone.

Adora smirked, not eager to end the cuddles, but they had a lot to do today. “What about some breakfast? Hungry?”

That opened both a yellow and blue eye, and Catra’s tail started to swish back and forth as a mischievous smile reached her lips. “Y’know, now that you mention it, I am…”

Before Adora could move to get up, however, Catra was already straddling her thighs, moving her face in to nuzzle against the rapidly increasing pulse of her neck. “Catra…we really...um...” was all she could whimper before teeth lightly nipping at her neck, not to mention the press of their bodies together, quickly sapped most conscious thought from her mind.

“Hey, you offered,” Catra said huskily between kisses and nips, “Not my fault you didn’t specify what kinda hunger…”

Adora tried to resist. She _really_ did.

Or at least that’s what she would say if ever questioned about it. But when Catra ground her hips against her, and started moving down the front of her body, a hand slipping up under the tanktop she’d worn to bed, well Adora’s resistance crumbled. She was only human after all.

“Uh...yeah...you’re right...but we should...ooo...should get food too...at some point…” she managed to get out, breathily, before saving Catra some time by pulling the shirt up over her head and tossing it aside. Then she lay her head back, running her hands through her girlfriend’s hair.

==========

A number of climaxes and a shower later, the pair had a simple breakfast...actual food this time...and then Catra had kissed her and gone on her way with a flick of her tail, saying she had things she had to do before they left for the ball.

A ball. Something about that, on this particular day, twinged Adora’s memories, but she pushed the thoughts aside as Bow arrived. It was probably nothing anyway.

After defeating Horde Prime they had gone on an adventure across the stars, the goal being to bring magic back to the rest of the universe. They had found wonders they had never dreamed of the first time they had left Etheria, way back when they had to rescue Glimmer and Catra from the Horde...that felt like a lifetime ago in such a few short years. They found societies that they could learn from, peoples who had a thousand words for joy, and while it was wonderful, the universe was also a chaotic place and they found places that could use their help, and not always with a sword or magic.

Presently, they were working on some plans for a school Glimmer had come up with. They found many planets that weren’t as lucky as Etheria and naturally wanted to help. Hence, schools. Glimmer wanted to offer something that could be gifted, that could give less fortunate societies advantages without seemingly forcing Etherian cultural changes. It was a tricky balancing act...didn’t want to come off like they were trying to change or colonize the worlds.

As they walked to one of the Castle’s studies to get to work, Bow making small talk with his trademark upbeat nature, Adora couldn’t help but muse to herself how much he’d changed since they first met. His easy smile was the same, but there was a confidence in his eyes that was only hinted at when she first knew him. He’d also grown a few inches, and was wearing his hair longer...even had some fuzz he liked to call a beard on his chin. A few more years and he’d be the spitting image of his one dad, Lance. They always seemed the most similar, personality-wise, so it just seemed to fit.

Their meeting went on longer than expected. While the idea had been Glimmer’s initially, her duties as Queen meant she couldn’t always be hands on with everything she wanted, and as such Bow, Adora and even Catra tried to pick up the slack, usually with some minor complaining on the catgirl’s part. Bow and Glimmer had long since put aside their mistrust of Catra, but it didn’t stop them all from ribbing each other good naturedly still.

The remote schools? That was a project that Bow had been eager to take the lead on. It let him embrace so many aspects of his personality. His love of technology, but also some of the academic background he got from his dads. Adora guessed that was another part of him growing up...realizing that he didn’t have to be just the action guy, that he could explore his academic upbringing with new eyes, without taking anything away from his love of diving into action.

They ended up working late into the afternoon, taking lunch in the study (they were in the zone and didn’t want to lose steam by leaving the room), and had nearly been late when one of the guards had poked her head in to tell Bow the Queen was looking for him...they had to get ready! Putting a pin in their work, they had rushed off to their respective wings to change.

==========

When Adora reached the suite she shared with Catra, with it’s flowing water, she called out for her girlfriend but got no response. There was evidence that Catra had been back since they’d parted at breakfast, a tossed item of clothing here and there, and a large package draped across the bed with ‘Open me!’ scrawled across the front in Catra’s distinctive handwriting, but she’d clearly left again to go...who knows where?

Adora couldn’t wonder further, she had to get ready. Quickly cleaning up, she moved to the bed to open the mysterious package and found...a dress. Her jaw dropped. Had Catra gotten this made for her specifically??

Carefully removing it from the package, Adora couldn’t believe her eyes. It was beautiful. White, long and flowing, for gold accents at the waist and straps, it somehow got across the delicate side that Catra had been getting to know the last few years, but somehow also said ‘oh, bee tee dubs, I’m She-Ra’. Adora smiled so wide she could almost cry.

Adora quickly got dressed. Of all Catra’s wonderful qualities, if you'd told her back when they’d been trying to get through the Horde’s training that the catgirl had an eye for sizing fashion, she would have snorted in disbelief: the gown hugging her perfectly.

She wore her hair down, affixing a tiara that had been placed with purpose on her dresser and was just giving herself a final check in the reflection of one of the waterfalls when that feeling from earlier returned, a sense of familiarity, like she’d been here before. She was just darting her eyes around her room, as if seeing it in a new light, when a commotion behind her caught her attention.

She turned just in time to catch Catra burst through the door followed closely by Glimmer.

“Just let me brush it!” Glimmer was hollering.

“No!” Catra yelled, weaving around Adora and using her as a human shield to avoid Glimmer’s deadly weapon...a hairbrush. “Don’t let her touch me, she’s gonna torture me.”

Wait...this was...Adora knew this…

“Do you always have to be this dramatic?” Glimmer sighed with a roll of her eyes, to which Catra just stuck out her tongue to the young queen.

Adora’s brow creased with worry. This was her dream. What did that mean?

And then there was Bow entering, all cleaned up as well compared to earlier “C’mon, guys. If we’re late to Scorpia’s first ball, she’s gonna kill us.” As soon as he was within range, Glimmer was leaning in close against Bow.

It was happening exactly as she remembered. Adora was having trouble breathing, but no one seemed to notice right away. Was her whole life a dream?

“Fine!” Glimmer muttered, “you’re off the hook. This time.” And with that, she and Bow turned to leave.

Catra for her part chuckled triumphantly before moving around Adora to follow the pair, only to stop a few steps away when she noticed Adora wasn’t beside her. Turning to face the blonde, she held out a hand, affection plastered all over her face. “You coming?”

Adora wanted to take the hand. Just be happy, but...what if this wasn’t real? Some Horde hologram. Or another illusionary world before some damn portal destroyed reality. Something.

What if?

The hesitation was enough for Catra to notice the worry etched on Adora’s face, and she was immediately back at Adora’s side, her expression mirroring Adora’s. “Hey, hey, you ok Adora?”

Adora hesitated a moment, finally admitting, “I don’t know.”

Catra took up the blonde's hands in her own, her gaze never leaving Adora’s eyes. “What’s up?”

“What if...what if this isn’t real?”

There was a flash of past hurt in Catra’s eyes, a lifetime of abandonment issues fighting against a few years of happiness. “What do you mean? Like...us?”

“Yes,” came Adora’s quick reply, and she regretted it immediately as pain creased Catra’s expression, old walls threatening to return, and she quickly tried to explain, “No! No, I don’t mean like...you and me, as a couple. I love you. I love you so much. What I mean is...what if this world isn’t real?”

Pain shifted to confusion as the words sunk in, “...wait, what?”

Adora took a shaky breath, afraid that admitting this would bring the whole damned thing down, but finally pushed forward, “I remember this. Just now, with Glimmer chasing you with the brush.”

That brought some amusement back to Catra’s expression, “Not exactly the first time Sparkles has tried to brush me...you know I hate it.”

“No!” Adora exclaimed, exasperated, “Not just that, this whole thing...our clothes, you two running in, Bow saying we were going to be late, all of it. I saw it when we were under the Heart of Etheria. Right before defeating Horde Prime.”

For her part, Catra watched her with laser focus, seemingly realizing this wasn’t the time for jokes.

“What if...what if we never defeated him? What if this is just a beautiful dream before his virus kills me?” Adora finally whispered.

Catra regarded her for a long moment, carefully weighing her answer. “So, last time, you dreamed everything up til now? Us noodling around the stars, that time with the bats Scorpia finally getting the nerve up to ask out Perfuma even though we could all see it coming, like, miles away?”

That gave Adora pause, “Um...no…”

“Ok, but you had other memories from today, right?” Catra raised an eyebrow.

“Yes! Well...sorta. Well, not really, more like just a feeling.”

Catra nodded, “Ok, let’s try this: what exactly do you remember?”

Adora thought about it, “I was staring at that waterfall, and then you came in and Glimmer was chasing you, you hid behind me, Bow came in and mentioned being late, they left, you held out your hand to me and asked if I was coming.”

Catra tilted her head to the side, ears twitching, “So about a minute out of, like, 5 years?”

Putting it that way made Adora feel a little silly, “...yes?”

That same smirk from this morning came back in a flash across Catra’s face, “What about the thing with my tongue...were you imagining I could do that back before we were together?”

At this, Adora’s eyes went wide, her cheeks immediately turning a bright crimson, “What?! No!”

Finally, Catra laughed softly, leaning in to lay her forehead against Adora’s and look into her eyes, “And you never considered it was just déjà vu, dummy?”

The contact made her feel better but she wasn’t quite ready to give up yet, “But...I mean it was just so familiar.”

Catra smiled wider at this, “You mean, like déjà vu?”

An exasperated tear escaped the corner of her eye, “Ugh, would you forget déjà vu? I’m really scared, Catra...I don’t want this to go away. I don’t want to lose this life...lose you.”

The amusement evaporated from Catra’s expression, leaving only caring. Placing a hand on the side of Adora’s face, she lightly brushed the blondes cheek with her thumb as she said softly, “Listen Adora, I know I don’t do the whole magic thing, not like you or Sparkles or like...90% of my friends. But if there’s anything I’ve picked up in the last few years it’s that...magic is really weird.”

This was not where Adora thought this conversation was going, “Um, ok?”

Not to be dissuaded, Catra pushed on, “What I mean is, it does strange stuff. Remember what your sword managed when I, uh...almost destroyed reality?” At this memory of her at her darkest point, Catra briefly got a bit sheepish, before trying to move on, “Well we were standing right under a device that had been collecting magic power from Etheria for, what, like a thousand years? You don’t think that’s gonna have some sort of an effect on our reality?”

Adora hadn’t considered that, “Oh. Uh, maybe?”

“All I’m saying is...what if, in that moment, in that place, when you were in pain the powers running through there just...reached out through time, grabbing a moment from your future to show you what life could be like.”

Adora liked to think about that, “And then you told me you loved me,”

Catra smiled, pulling back to regard her more fully, “Yeah. Yeah, I did. I seem to remember you saying it back.”

“Yeah,” Adora nodded, “You saved me. You’re still saving me.”

And then silly Catra was back, brushing off the compliment, “Yeah, well, someone’s got to, Arrow Boy and Sparkles are busy making kissy faces…ok, enough melodrama, we gonna get our dance on?”

All her worries seemingly evaporated, Adora finally was able to take in what Catra was wearing. A slightly more formal version of her traditional red and black...and holy crap, could that girl rock a collared shirt and pants combo...but her jacket. White and gold. Colours she would never have pictured on Catra a few short years ago. “Your jacket. It matches my dress.”

Her girlfriend just smirked at that, “Well, yeah. Gotta make sure everyone knows who She-Ra’s arm candy is.” Then the bravado seemingly left her and she just raised an eyebrow, shades of the scared girl Adora had met such a long time ago coming through, “I, uh, had them made special. Is that ok?”

Adora bit back a laugh, not wanting to offend her. Could she get any cuter? “Are you kidding? I love it. I’m just a little surprised. Fashion was just...never really your thing.”

“Pleeeease...you know you couldn’t get your eyes off me in a tux at the Princess Prom.”

She kinda had a point there, but Adora wasn’t about to admit defeat just yet, “Ok, fine, I’ll grant you that one, but how long did you wear that cat face headband thinking it was a good idea? I mean, we get it, catgirl, wasn’t that a bit overboard?”

Catra’s offended eyes went wide, “Oh come on. No way am I taking fashion advice from you, I mean, did you actively seek out the red jacket with the biggest shoulder pads you could find??”

“Jerk.”

“Idiot.”

Anyone reading a transcription of their conversation might think they were really arguing. They would totally miss the fact the two women were leaning against each other at this point, full body laughter shaking them as they struggled to stay upright.

Finally getting their breath back, they fell into an easy silence together, just smiling and enjoying each other’s touch. Finally, Adora decided to break it by whispering softly, “Hey, thanks again.”

Catra quirked an eyebrow, replying in equally hushed tones, “For what?”

Adora just offered a shrug of the shoulders, not having enough time to describe everything she was thankful for, so she simply said, “Y’know...everything.”

This seemed to catch Catra off guard and she bit her lip softly, before seemingly coming to a decision. Moving half a step back, she scratched nervously at the back of her neck, actually looking a bit flustered as she said, “Hey, so, listen, I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff lately. And the worlds keep turning, time passes. And life is good, don’t get me wrong, no complaints here, it’s just...I mean...”

Adora watched her girlfriend intensely, and it seemed to make her stumble over her words until finally she cursed to herself and started reaching into a pocket on the inside of her jacket, producing a small box that she held out before her.

“So, Adora…”

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod_

Catra cracked open the box and Adora got the barest hint of something shiny before she was distracted by Bow barging into the room at the exact worst time, “Hey, are you guys coming? We’re gonna be la…”

It was too much, just too much and Adora couldn’t help herself as she yelled at the top of her lungs, “GIVE. US. _A. **MINUTE!!**_ ”

Bow immediately stopped on a dime, eyes wide like someone had kicked his puppy. Without another word, he quickly backed out of the room, pulling the door closed with him.

Turning back to Catra, who was barely hiding her amusement, Adora plastered on her biggest smile and said brightly, “Sorry, you were saying?”

Laughing softly, there was still a surprising amount of timidness in her voice as she said, “I was actually planning on saving this for a little later, maybe at the ball, or your birthday or something. But you were just so upset right now, and then we were laughing together, and it hit me. Why wait? So Adora,” bringing the box back up into view, Catra raised a hopeful eyebrow, “Wanna marry me?”

Adora was shocked. Not by the proposal per se. She was prepared to say yes the instant the box appeared. But then she saw the ring. It was beautiful. A simple band, with a red gem carved to look as if it was embracing a creamy green stone.

When she didn’t say anything immediately, too transfixed by the jewelry, Catra explained, “It’s a garnet and an opal, our birthstones. Too cheesy?”

Letting the beautiful catgirl slip the ring on her finger, Adora felt the wetness on her face before she even realized she’d started crying, and then she was wrapping Catra up in her arms, kissing her like Etheria depended on it, trying to get every ounce of love expressed in the embrace. Time stood still around them. Entire ages of the planet could have passed for how long the kiss seemed to last.

Finally, the pair parted just enough to catch a breath. Catra purred softly, back in her throat, and rubbed her cheek against Adora’s as she whispered, “So, um...is that a yes? Cause I really kinda need to know.”

Rolling her eyes, Adora playfully pushed her girlfriend...no, wait, fiancee...away, eyes all alight with happiness even as she rolled them, “Ugh, yes...geez, obviously yes!”

This seemed to just make Catra purr louder as she closed the distance between them again, leaning in and brushing her nose softly against Adora’s a couple times before kissing her tenderly, just once, whispering against her lips, “Ok. Just checking.”

Adora just laughed, “You dork.” She couldn’t believe she was lucky enough for this to be her life. She wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

Offering Adora a frankly cute wink and flick of her tail, she started heading towards the door, throwing a look back over her shoulder, “C’mon. We should probably get going. Gonna be late after all.”

Adora smiled and nodded, following along. Catra reached the door first, pulling it open to find Bow and Glimmer, hunkered down, looking sheepish after clearly trying to snoop. Straightening up, the pair tried to look nonchalant, Bow clearing his throat, “Ahem, uh, hey...everything ok you two?”

Adora started to wonder if they should wait to tell the news, but she needn’t have bothered as Catra was quick to say in an off the cuff manner, “Oh, yeah. We’re getting married. C’mon, let’s go get our dance on.” With that, Catra kept walking, as if she’d been talking about lint on her blouse. You had to admire an ability to tease like that.

Adora tried to contain her laughter as she passed the stunned faces of her best friends to catch up to Catra, before they heard Glimmer behind them, “Wait, what?! Hey, come back, say that again!” With that, Catra grabbed her hand and the two of them were off into a run, laughing the whole way.

They couldn’t actually escape the teleporter, of course. That wasn’t the point. It was just about making the game more fun.

It was going to be a great night.

**THE END?**

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading my first ever story on AO3! I hope you liked it (please be gentle in the comments, I haven’t actually written characters I didn’t create myself in a long time). If people really like this future, maybe I'll add more, I'm pretty curious about Scorpia's ball.
> 
> This story came about because my wife and I freaked tf out at the end of the series, and then rewatched episode 13 again immediately. After finishing the series finale (and watching an unhealthy amount of fan vids), what struck me the most (besides, obviously, the confession and kiss) is Adora’s dream of the future. I could honestly just watch 10+ seasons of a fluffy slice-of-life show about Catradora and their friends just living happy lives in a post Horde universe. 
> 
> Shout out to "we only see daylight (I only see you)" by gostorain, which I read in the middle of writing this piece and who were also clearly inspired by that scene. I don't think I took any inspiration from them, I think our takes are pretty different, but just wanted to point people to another great take inspired by that scene.
> 
> In case it’s not obvious, this story is pretty laser focused on Adora and Catra, from Adora’s POV, hence the limited characterization of Bow and Glimmer. I confess that I struggled a little while on the short bit where they part and kinda pulled the school idea out of my butt, so that’s probably the weakest part of the story, but what do you think?
> 
> The engagement ring was done that way because, I’m sorry, diamonds are boring and unoriginal (and, y’know, that’s not even getting into the exploitation or artificially created scarcity to increase prices, etc). I took the birthstones from the SPoP wiki, or at least found their birth dates, and also their star signs. Figured if Etheria had our months and astrological signs, it was probably safe to give them our world’s birthstones as well.
> 
> Anyway, please let me know what you thought. Thanks!


End file.
